“If Jesus is about anything, it’s that love trumps rules.” “Time will tell whether these evangelical colleges are on the right side of history. But I can’t help thinking that 50 years from now they will look back and wonder what the fuss was about.” “Even though we imposed our religious views on others when we pushed through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting sale and manufacture of alcohol nearly 100 years ago, we did not insist our religious... Read more
Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, Part 7 We’ve arrived at the fork in the road. Up until now we’ve been watching an adaptation of Tribulation Force, the novel. The characters on the screen are taken from that book, and what we’ve seen thus far has mostly been a re-enactment of scenes originally written there by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. As in any adaptation, those scenes have been tweaked and streamlined, with a few minor departures — Chris Smith is... Read more
“Someday, by God, I want to throw a wedding for that kid.” “You can either be on the right side of history or the wrong side of history. Your choice. But if you’re on the wrong side, be ready to look like an asshole to your grandchildren, no matter how many savings bonds you give them.” “They pitched a fit and wouldn’t leave until something happened.” (That’s biblical.) “That is not legal argument or empirical evidence. It is the death... Read more
The New Bottom Line project says “Bank Transfer Season 2012 Kicks Off in San Francisco“: Yesterday, clergy in San Francisco announced plans to divest $10 million from Wells Fargo. 40 clergy from across San Francisco gathered outside the headquarters of Wells Fargo to call on the bank to put an immediate freeze on all foreclosure activity and conduct broad-based principal reduction for underwater homeowners. It came just days after the San Francisco recorder-assessor, Phil Ting, released a report casting doubt on... Read more
So it’s that time of year. Lent has begun (see Kathleen A. Mulhern’s “Lent FAQ” at Patheos). It’s time to plan out the garden and plot out the plot. And in Florida, grown men practice fielding bunts, working now so they can play later. While some teams begin spring training with exciting new free agents or rookie phenoms, my beloved Mets didn’t upgrade much from the team that finished 77-85 last year. They lost star shortstop Jose Reyes — but... Read more
Sinead O’Connor: “Take Off Your Shoes” In Pop Matters, Josh Langhoff says How About I Be Me (And You Be You) is worth a listen. P.S.: So Scott, Josh, Beatrix and Frank walked into a bar … Read more
My point in the previous post is simply this: Our rude and dim new friend, like many who argue for the criminalization of abortion, insists that we are in a crisis. And yet our rude and dim new friend does not behave as though he himself is living in the context of such a crisis. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that our RADNF is talking out of his backside. The claim of a context of crisis rests on the... Read more
Syndicated reruns got me hooked on the old CBS show Early Edition years after it was cancelled. It’s a lot of fun. If you haven’t seen it, it starred a pre-Friday Night Lights Kyle Chandler as Chicagoan Gary Hobson. Every morning, mysteriously, he receives the next day’s newspaper — a newspaper with tomorrow’s news. Given this advance warning of the traumas and tragedies about to unfold, Chandler races around the city, trying to avert disasters, rescue the innocent and save... Read more
“There is no law against such things,” the apostle Paul wrote of “self-control.” Silly man. People can’t be allowed to control themselves. That’s why we have all kinds of laws against such things. Laws forbidding self-control are, in fact, the essence of contemporary American evangelicalism. Advocacy for such laws are what we have made the central, defining characteristic of our faith. Who decides? Who will be trusted to decide? Who is in control? Not you. You can’t be trusted to... Read more
CJR’s Merrill Perlman tackles a style question regarding two newly acquired titles — “Cardinal Sins: First or middle name?” In ceremonies filled with pomp, twenty-two men were named cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, including two from the United States: Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Edwin O’Brien, emeritus archbishop of Baltimore and now the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. (Now, that’s a title!) Depending on where you looked, the... Read more
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